


To The Portal

by shinjiteii



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, Gore, M/M, OT6, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 14:54:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17768891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinjiteii/pseuds/shinjiteii
Summary: A story in sixty seconds? Understandable when a mere sixty seconds is the time required to realize that your entire world has turned upside down… The goals, they have changed.





	To The Portal

**Author's Note:**

> gave up on writing since the last post for reasons but i’m kind of back now temporarily, though extremely unwell, so please excuse the delay in updates for the ongoing ones
> 
> is an ot6 story. woogyu is the only likely pairing. idk how to tag properly OTL

 

 

 

A raucous cacophony of laughter echoed through the walls and he smiled by himself.

Walking over the uneven cobbled path outside their base, made him remember the first dorm he lived in. And the roar of laughter coming from the soldiers inside the base also contributed in reminding of the members’ laugh back then.

Sunggyu only realized he was smiling like a fool from the memories, upon noticing his reflection on the puddles of water on the ground.

The entire division of soldiers of which Sunggyu was a part, was stationed in an almost empty village, for their training. It was a two week training period and they had arrived just yesterday.

Since the village shared a border with North Korea, it was an ideal situation. The soldiers could guard the border when they were not training, and the new recruits could gain first-hand experience of the situation at the border.

Sunggyu had been pretty anxious before arriving because so far they had not been to an actual site where there was potential for things to go wrong.

However, upon arriving, it came to his notice that things were pretty calm there, too calm actually that it could give you chills; but Sunggyu liked quiet places. There were very few people who actually lived in the village and even then, the population was distributed, and people lived far apart from each other, and that it would be a surprise if he actually met any civilian. It would be more apt to call the village a deserted, unoccupied forest. So it was quiet naturally.

That led to another thought, in his calm, collected mind.

As he walked alone through the empty, dimly lit street, he realized how quiet Infinite had become recently, as in when they got together.

Infinite was a noisy group in general, as in they would always get stared at when they would be with other groups, because they couldn’t keep their mouths shut to save the world.

But in the recent years, as they had become more mature, the members liked to keep to themselves or would be busy playing games or doing god knows what on their cellphones. Sunggyu was guilty of that too, but occasionally, their childish side would come out when they were together, be it due to a silly comment by one of them or because of some gossip they were all interested in, or fighting for food.

Sunggyu loved those times. Sometimes, during such times, he would try to steel his face to show a neutral expression because the emotions he felt were sometimes way dramatic, and it would be weird if anyone got to see them.

He had a problem, a major one.

Sunggyu loved Infinite.

Of course, you would say, most idols loved their respective groups, but for Sunggyu, it went over that.

Because for him, Infinite meant a lot. The members had drifted a little apart over the years, and Sunggyu was definitely not one to hold people by their arms and make them stay or cling to them, but he did miss them.

Often times, he would be doing random things, and would be reminded of Myungsoo's laugh (the Myungsoo who hadn’t called him once in the past two months), Sungjong's favourite food item (the Sungjong whose last message to him was a proclamation of him hating him for making him do some work), Woohyun's stupid jokes (the Woohyun who had talked more to Sunggyu's colleagues in the army than to Sunggyu during his last visit), Sungyeol's shirt size (the Sungyeol who had forgotten to wish him birthday until reminded), Dongwoo’s useful advice which he had initially ignored like always because it was hard to decipher (the Dongwoo who told Sunggyu he needed to exercise if he didn’t want to look bloated, on his last visit). [and also worrying for Hoya sometimes (the Hoya who hadn’t replied to his last message)]

But the last time he had missed them too much had been a month ago, and now he was not prepared to feel all of that again so soon.

There was a reason for why he was thinking about them though.

Sunggyu was on his way to visit Dongwoo.

Infinite, by extreme dumb luck, had their photoshoot scheduled today at this village. Like what were the chances for that to happen? Sunggyu’s division had been assigned this place randomly in the middle of nowhere, and now Infinite had their shoot at the exact same village? It was like the world was conniving with the elements so that they could meet all together. (Inspirits would certainly be happy if they knew)

But Sunggyu wasn’t expecting anything.

His meeting with Dongwoo was granted only after obtaining permission from the seniors. The allowed time was predetermined and Sunggyu was expected to be back within forty five minutes of his departure from the base. It was only because he was in the good books of the seniors that he was allowed to leave alone.

And he did need some alone time with Dongwoo. Dongwoo was bringing him some facial products and medicines and that would be embarrassing to share with his colleagues at the base. And being alone also meant Sunggyu could talk freely to the other.

Deep down in his heart, he wondered how it would be like if the others also decided to tag along with Dongwoo just to see him. Practically, the most he expected was just one other member tagging along. Would the others even know his base was stationed there? Dongwoo only knew because Sunggyu had asked him to deliver the medicines to him. Dongwoo was going to enlist soon and that would mean the two of them couldn’t visit each other whenever they wanted to, and Sunggyu wanted to meet him one last time. But, he wondered, would the others come to see him, even if Dongwoo told them about it? They would probably be tired from the shoot and decide to take a rest before leaving back for Seoul.

Sunggyu’s doubts turned to certainty when he reached his destination.

Their meeting place was the lone eatery in the village, whose owner Sunggyu had befriended the day before.

 And there was only one customer inside sitting on one of the tables, and that was Dongwoo.

Sunggyu tried to not let it show how disappointed he was.

The clock showed the time as six in the evening, and Sunggyu reminded himself that they had only half an hour to talk.

Dongwoo's wide bright smile never failed to lift up his spirits, so Sunggyu went to him, rushing like a kid, and gave him a huge hug.

Of course, since it was Dongwoo, he ended up being hugged, and Dongwoo almost crushed him with the force of the hug and Sunggyu didn’t mind because he had missed him so damn much, it should be impossible to miss someone so much when that hardly happened before. They have gone not meeting for much longer time before, but now it felt sadder for some reason, and Sunggyu wanted to cry.

But like the responsible hyung he was supposed to be, he made Dongwoo sit down on the chair again, and began asking about how the photoshoot had gone.

It only bothered him a little that he couldn’t be there for the shoot because the others would enlist soon too and then they would be the ones missing from schedules. It was a similar set path for all of them.

Dongwoo handed him the supplies, which Sunggyu stuffed into the ridiculously huge backpack one of his friends from the base had lent him for the trip.

Five minutes done, twenty five minutes to go.

Dongwoo looked anxious for some reason, and his gaze was wandering to the counter where the owner of the eatery was seated.

“It’s alright if we don’t order anything. I have talked to him already.” Sunggyu assured Dongwoo.

“No… uh… hyung, actually I asked the owner before you arrived if there is any backroom where we can talk privately you know and he told me we can use his kitchen, since no one is there at the moment.”

“Oh really?” Sunggyu looked to the man who was in his early sixties. The owner, with his kind face, smiled at them, as if to tell them that they could go to the kitchen.

Sunggyu was happy. Dongwoo took him to the kitchen, holding his hand and Sunggyu was all smiling on his way there. There was no need for a private place to talk, yet the gesture made him feel thankful.

Once he entered the kitchen however, his heart almost stopped beating.

There they were, the people he was longing to see.

The four of them had their sweet genuine smiles on their faces, and Sunggyu couldn’t stop the tears from escaping his eyes. Truthfully, he hadn't expected there to be even a chance of one percent for the others to be present. And here, they were. All five of them had come to see him, and all he wanted at the moment was to stop the ugly crying that started automatically, but his tear ducts wouldn’t stop until they emptied.

He must look so hideous, he thought, as the others looked surprised at him; their warm, welcoming expressions changing to concerned ones.

“Gyu hyung.” Sungyeol said. And then Sunggyu noticed Woohyun’s frown change to a grin.

“See he cried! I told you! I won the bet! You owe me ten thousand bucks Sungyeol!” Woohyun claimed happily.

“Shut up he’s crying Woohyun.” Sungyeol said, and moved forward towards Sunggyu.

Sunggyu however wanted to just run away. He turned around to do that, when a grip on his shoulder made him stay still.

Dongwoo brought him into his embrace, and Sunggyu took that opportunity to calm himself down.

Ten minutes done, twenty minutes to go.

There was a hand on his back, and Sunggyu didn’t have to look back to know that it was Sungjong who was caressing his back.

The maknae eventually joined them and back hugged Sunggyu, and it made Sunggyu feel embarrassed. He had cried he remembered, that was so stupid.

Dongwoo slowly let go of him, and a protest was on the tip of Sunggyu’s tongue, but then Sungjong turned him around and hugged him tight.

By the time he could free himself, the others had left the room and it was only the two of them inside.

Sunggyu wanted to pretend being hurt by their surprise, but there was limited time so he instead talked to Sungjong about all he could.

Then came Sungyeol, and Sunggyu didn’t hesitate in calling out Sungyeol for the ‘bet’ he had made with Woohyun about Sunggyu crying.

Sungyeol folded his hands in apology, with begging eyes, and Sunggyu couldn’t stay mad for longer.

Myungsoo was all awkward when he entered, but he came bearing gifts for him, and Sunggyu almost kissed him. He was also being his cute, silent self, and Sunggyu did not have the time to ease him into a conversation, so he simply asked him to take care and gave him a hug too.

Fifteen minutes done, fifteen minutes to go.

Then came Woohyun, and Sunggyu knew he was up to no good this time. He came in wearing a smirk on his face, and that always meant an argument between them, but there was no time, so Sunggyu simply stood quiet, hoping Woohyun didn’t let any stupidity come out of his mouth.

“Are you angry?” Woohyun asked.

Sunggyu pretended to be angry. Well, he had been pissed off actually, but he was happier about seeing Woohyun.

“I knew you would cry.” Woohyun laughed out loud.

And that was it. Usually Sunggyu would have scolded him and then they would fight, but there were just ten minutes remaining for him to leave, and Sunggyu needed fifteen minutes more to walk back to the base after that. Better be safe. He couldn’t risk being late by even a minute.

So he went forward, and patting Woohyun on the shoulder, whispered a ‘take care’.

Woohyun looked upset, but he would have been upset anyway if they fought, so Sunggyu wasn’t that worried about it. When Sunggyu walked out of the kitchen, everyone was readying to leave.

Woohyun joined the group and Sunggyu went to talk to the owner.

When he returned, the others were all ready to leave. Sunggyu scolded them for coming there without any managers but they were overall in a good mood when he bade them goodbye. He hugged Dongwoo tightly, almost crying, because this time he understood what real separation was.

While on his way back alone, something struck odd to him. You see, Sunggyu was used to knowing when he was being followed because he had been followed hundreds of times in his life. Sometimes, it became a routine, but whenever anyone followed him during his private time, he was the first one to notice. He sighed internally thinking that a sasaeng must have followed them there. But sasaengs were rarely this conspicuous.

It occurred to him that it could be a North Korean spy, and to his terrible luck, Sunggyu was in his army uniform. The thought brought chills to his mind, and he decided to not take any risks. All of a sudden, he sprinted towards his destination.

Loud footsteps followed behind him and they were closing in on him. The base was still ten minutes away, and there was no way Sunggyu could reach there before being caught. So offence was the only option.

Thankfully, there was a gun on him, since they were very close to the border, and as he turned around, he brandished it to his chaser.

It was Woohyun.

Sunggyu was glad that he had managed to scare the hell out of Woohyun, because the fucker had really scared him. Woohyun looked ready to back out and run back to where he came from.

Sunggyu took pity on him, and placed back the gun in the holster.

“Why are you stalking me?” Sunggyu asked him.

Woohyun, having overcome his fear, came closer to him. “Why do you have a gun on you? Are you even allowed that? And why did you point it at me?”

“Because you were following me?”

“So you will shoot me?”

“If you misbehave, I will.”

“You will shoot _me_?”

“Why? Are you the president or something for me to not shoot you?”

“I am your friend.”

“Friend?”

“Brother”

“ _Brother_?”

“Family”

“Whatever… why are you here?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? I came from so far to meet you and you did not even talk to me.” Woohyun looked genuinely upset.

“Woohyun, that situation was only going to create an argument between us, and it’s not like we had time. I didn’t want to part ways with you fighting.”

“Then you could have avoided the argument? I was not trying to argue with you or something, that was just innocent teasing…”

“Which always evolves into a fight. Seriously we know each other for how many years? Ten? I have learnt enough to know how our talks would end.”

“And not talking at all is better? You would rather not talk to me? Do you still think of me as a kid that only argues with you every time?”

“No and you know that. But… ah seriously, Woohyun I don’t have time now. I have to reach back within five minutes and now I would have to run because of you.” Sunggyu started walking, almost running, back to his base.

Woohyun walked by his side. “I will convince your seniors to excuse the delay. Don’t worry about that.”

That brought Sunggyu to a stop. “Oh right, I will blame this on you. I have had to listen to praises of you since the last month. Take a scolding now.”

“They praised me? Wow hyung, I want to join your division.”

“Shut up, you know it’s not up to you.” He had completely stopped walking now, relieved of the fact that Woohyun had offered to come with him. His seniors had a soft spot for the younger man, and they would probably scold Sunggyu less if the other accompanied him. “Why are you here anyway?”

“Because you talked to everyone else, they told me. And you were mean to me.”

Sunggyu sighed. “Woohyun ah” He placed a hand on his shoulder. “Why would I not be mean to someone who bets on me crying?”

“But you talked to Sungyeol” Woohyun whined.

“He thought that I wouldn’t cry while your bet was that I would. Besides, he already apologized. That was the first thing he did, unlike you.”

“But I am allowed that right? I am your best friend!”

“Really? Thanks for the information.” Sunggyu looked away, angry.

There were arms around him then, and Sunggyu felt warm all of a sudden. He had received a lot of hugs voluntarily from the members after he had left for the army. None of them except Dongwoo used to do that before, and now it made him really soft. He hugged back, almost tearing up again, thinking when he would meet Woohyun next. He had missed him the most because they would meet regularly before his enlistment, and now even though Woohyun tried to meet him whenever he could, it still wasn’t enough.

A few seconds passed and Sunggyu thought that he shouldn’t delay returning to the base anymore. It would be night soon too, besides Woohyun had to return alone. That made him quite worried.

“Woohyun ah”

“Hmm?”

“You have your phone right?”

“No” Woohyun withdrew from the hug, but still not moving back. He had his hands holding Sunggyu’s arms. There was only as much skinship Sunggyu could tolerate and he was about to tell him to give him some space, but then he realized Woohyun had answered no.

“What? Why not?”

“Um actually I do have my phone, but it doesn’t work here. There’s no network connection in this place. We didn’t have any back in the hotel too.”

“Right.” Sunggyu was reminded that there was in fact really poor network coverage in the area, and that was on purpose. “So how do you plan to return?”

“Um” Woohyun looked guilty. “I was planning to guess my way back?”

“Are you dumb?” Sunggyu was frustrated. “You…” He decided to not swear because that would mean they would again separate on bad terms, and he didn’t want that. “Okay, I will ask someone to accompany you back. I am sure one of your admirers will volunteer.” He sighed.

“Are you jealous?” Woohyun teased.

Sunggyu simply pulled away from him and started walking away.

“Hyuuung” Woohyun followed him like a puppy, when Sunggyu shook him off, not letting him close.

But it was getting dark quickly now and Sunggyu eventually let Woohyun hold his hands as they walked back. He might have been scared himself and Woohyun was the kind to take advantage of the situation to scare him more.

Thankfully, the other didn’t do that, but he occupied Sunggyu with chatting about his daily life, talking about his family and their company.

Which was a bad thing, because now Sunggyu had lost his way and was too flustered to admit it.

Woohyun must have realized it too because it had been half an hour since they had started walking together and they had not reached the base yet. But the younger man either had actually not realized it due to how engrossed he was in talking or he chose to not point it out yet.

Either way both of them were screwed.

Woohyun switched on his flashlight after a while, because there were no streetlights since the place did not have much population.

They stopped their talks when it got completely dark since it was eerie. Woohyun’s hold on his hand was also pretty tight and Sunggyu was sure his grip on Woohyun was double the strength. He had a gun, but that was not much assurance.

After some more minutes of walking by the thickets, they finally could hear noises of people speaking. It was close, the base was close.

Woohyun smiled widely at Sunggyu, moving forward, but Sunggyu held him back.

Something was wrong. The noises were loud, and as far as Sunggyu knew, the soldiers were strictly bound by protocol not to make any noises after seven in the evening. Daytime was all fun and merry, but night time was serious business, and there was no way this level of noise was allowed by their seniors. There _had_ to be something wrong.

So far, the base had been their destination, a place of safety, but now Sunggyu didn’t want to go close. He wanted to at least venture close enough to see what was going on, because a lot of people he started caring for in the past months were there, but that was an extremely risky and dangerous thing to do and he had Woohyun with him, and Woohyun was the kind of friend who wouldn’t let him go alone. So he had to make a decision.

It did not take much time, none at all, and soon Sunggyu was pulling Woohyun into the opposite direction.

The other made a sound of protest, but Sunggyu gestured him to be quiet and whispered to him to make as low noise as possible.

Sunggyu was bound by duty to go check if anything was wrong. It was his responsibility as a soldier, but he had a civilian with him, and he would try to ensure Woohyun’s safety first. That he would have to return to the base alone occurred to Sunggyu, and he would probably die due to just being scared, but Woohyun was not required to risk his life, no.

They walked back quickly, making no noise. After just a few minutes, the restaurant they had been in, came to their sight, and Sunggyu was equally relieved and afraid at seeing the owner locking the restaurant. He ran up to him.

The old man noticed him coming, and quickly went into the restaurant, locking himself inside. That was a surprise.

Sunggyu knocked on the door slowly, Woohyun beside him.

“Ahjusshi, why did you go inside?” He whispered through the door.

“Why did you come back?” The man asked.

“We lost our way.” Sunggyu replied.

“I-is that so? Did you not meet anyone on your way so far?”

“Huh? No? You are the first person we met? And we were actually close to the base, but… we came back. I don’t mean to scare you” Sunggyu held Woohyun’s hand tightly. “But there were some loud noises coming from that direction and I think there is a chance the North Koreans have infiltrated the base.”

“Sunggyu, please answer my question honestly.” The old man said, his tone afraid, but firm. “I trust you, so I will believe you. Did anyone bite you or Woohyun sshi after you left this place?”

“Bite us?” Sunggyu was confused and he looked at Woohyun who shared the same confused look with him. “No. We didn’t even meet anyone, like I said before.” Sunggyu answered.

The door opened at that, and he was pulled inside along with Woohyun.

The old man was sweating profusely and Sunggyu thought he was having a stroke or something but the man calmed himself down enough to face them. He was babbling quite fast, but it was all intelligible. “Sunggyu, son, this might not be believable, but I just received a message that the base has in fact been infiltrated. _But_. It’s not the North Koreans. You know those human beings who die and come back? In movies. Cannibals? Those who bite human beings and then even those who they bite become cannibals?”

“Zombies?” Woohyun asked.

The description didn’t match completely but that was also what came to Sunggyu’s mind first.

The old man nodded his head vigorously. “There is an epidemic at the base and they are trying to contain it. This area has been on lockdown since the past fifteen minutes. Everyone I know has fled, and now even I am running. We don’t have time, and they might come here soon. So you two, run away, before they get you. That’s all, I am going.”

The two followed the man outside, and he just ran away leaving everything behind.

Sunggyu looked at Woohyun more confused, but Woohyun looked really nervous.

“Hyung, I think the man is right. We should run.” He pulled Sunggyu.

“But how can zombies exist?” Sunggyu was not convinced. “Woohyun ah, you go back to the hotel from here. I am sure, you can guess back the way from here at least. I will go back and check.”

“You can’t, hyung. You will die.” Woohyun scolded him, as if he was stupid. “Are you trying to prove you are brave or something?”

“Woohyun, I am scared, but this is my duty, and even if not, there are a lot of people I care about back there, and even if it is the army from the North attacking, if I could save even a few of my people, that would be good. I don’t want to regret anything later.”

“They must have all turned into zombies by now hyung.” Woohyun clutched the sleeve of Sunggyu’s uniform tight. “Hyung please, listen to me. We have to find the others too. I know it is hard to believe, but it is better to be safe than sorry. And if you go back, I might not be able to find the others alone. Let’s look for the members first please. I am sorry to say this, but your friends in the base might already be dead, but there is a chance we can reach the members and our managers and stylists in time, and get them out. Please.”

“That is why, you go to the hotel. And I will go back to the base.”

“I don’t want you to die”

Sunggyu looked away in the distance.

“And I am going wherever you are going, so you have to decide.” Woohyun concluded.

Sunggyu tried to glare at the younger, but Woohyun was completely right and they did not even have the time to argue. The thing was, the noises were now audible to where they were at the moment, and that meant that whatever was the source of the commotion was heading in their direction.

And so, without wasting a second more, Sunggyu accepted Woohyun’s plan and followed him to the hotel.

Running while crying was hard, and Woohyun tried his best to get Sunggyu to run faster. The structure of the hotel came to his sight, and Sunggyu felt so relieved to see the outline of four people in the distance. He was pretty sure even from the distance that it was the members, and they looked alright.

But when they reached there, there was a shocking news.

Apparently when the members had returned from the restaurant back there, the hotel had been deserted. Everyone, from the hotel staff to their stylists, had been missing. The only thing they had left behind was a car and a huge note on the front door saying-

_To INFINITE- Zombies are coming, run!! This is not a drill! Run to the south!_

Somehow the others had accepted what was written and were waiting for Woohyun to return. Sungyeol was even about to set out on lookout for Woohyun if they hadn’t arrived in another two minutes. They had all assumed Sunggyu would be safe since he was in the military.

Upon knowing the epidemic had started from the military base itself, their faces turned grim.

No time was wasted, and they all hopped into the car.

The others had utilized the time available, and stocked out on several food items and other supplies from the hotel into the car. They were ready to get in and run whenever there would be even the slightest sign of danger, so it didn’t take much time for all of them to get in the seven-seater car.

Sungyeol took the driver’s seat, and Sunggyu went shotgun. He had the gun, and even though it had exactly twelve bullets loaded and even though he couldn’t trust himself to shoot anything in the darkness of the night, coupled with the anxiety, that was all they had as legitimate protection.

Sungyeol drove the car like crazy. The gas tank was half full and there was only so much distance they could cover, before they had to walk on their feet.

Sunggyu had his heart almost stop beating once or twice, when it felt like shadows passed them, but Dongwoo was holding his hand from behind, giving him support. And Sunggyu as always also knew he had to lead the members. It was a natural role for him due to all the years, and he had to pretend that he was not as scared as he actually was.

Sungyeol called out his bluff a few times, but the others didn’t hear that since they were busy watching around for any danger.

They passed a gas station thankfully, and as expected it was deserted. Sungyeol got out of the car to refuel, whereas Dongwoo and Woohyun watched his back. Myungsoo took the driver seat, in case they had to ditch everything suddenly and leave.

There was no untoward incident though and Sunggyu let out the breath he was holding back once all three entered inside the car safely. It was in the back of his mind that they could have driven back to the base, to check the situation once, but that would mean risking the others’ lives too, and Sunggyu wasn’t going to let that happen.

Eventually, he had to give up and started crying, after half an hour had passed since they had been in the car. They exchanged places then- Woohyun went to the front, and Sungjong comforted Sunggyu in the middle seat as Myungsoo sat on his other side, his eyes focused outside.

Their phones did not even work when they were out of the limits of the village and scarily enough everything was abandoned. There was not one human being in sight.

Eventually the car came to a stop.

Sunggyu looked to the front. By that time, an hour had passed since they had started the journey, and Sunggyu had stopped crying. He had once tried to get out of the car, regretting not going back to the base (the guilt had been enormous), but the members had managed to stop him. Sungjong had hugged him tight during the entire ride and Myungsoo would check on him half the time. Sunggyu had felt like a burden then, but now not even one of the others had their eye on him.

Instead they had their attention to the front.

The car had been going through a very narrow road since the main road had been blocked, and a woman was heading towards them from the front. They couldn’t see properly in the dark, but the car’s headlights were on, so her body was fully visible. She was in a business suit, but it was half torn. Her walk was staggered, and arms and legs all wobbly. There was blood all over her clothes and her jaw was half torn.

But the most chilling thing was that in her hand was the head of a baby. Sunggyu thought it was a doll at first, but upon noticing it for longer, it was evident it was the head of a baby half chewed.

Myungsoo puked into the floor of the car and Sunggyu closed his eyes. But he couldn’t give up like that. The site was ghastly but there was no way he could let them become the same as her.

Since the street was so narrow that only one car could pass through it, Sungyeol could drive backwards until they found an alternate route. But when they looked behind, there was another corpse in the far distance walking towards them and unlike this woman, it did not seem hindered by the dark since it was walking at a faster speed.

Sunggyu told Sungyeol to take the car forward. They had to run over the woman; she was dead anyway, and there was absolutely nothing human left inside her, everyone could see. Someone had to take the tough decisions.

But that seemed impossible now since just behind the woman, a group of zombies appeared, walking faster than the woman. They had a slow pace, yet another minute and they would reach them. The woman seemed to have not noticed the car, but the group behind her had their target fixed on them since they were walking very purposefully with their attention on the car.

Sungjong asked Sungyeol to switch off the headlights hoping the zombies wouldn’t approach them if they couldn’t see them. But that would mean complete darkness, and they would surely be bitten that way, since they wouldn’t be able to see and protect themselves, so Sungyeol refused.

Dongwoo was getting all ready with a baseball bat to beat the zombies dead. They had to try the ‘hit on head’ method first to kill the monsters, he declared.

But according to Sunggyu, avoiding any confrontation was the best situation.

There was no way they could take a detour to the left or right since the sides were elevated and the car couldn’t go up. Getting out of the car was the only option. Sunggyu ordered the others to gather supplies and told them to shut up for a while unless they had any inputs which were actually life-saving. He looked to the right, there were multiple shadows visible on the trees in the distance.

The left side was illuminated a bit by the moonlight but it seemed safer.

So when the others were done grabbing supplies, Sunggyu told them the plan.

Sungyeol was to switch off the headlights. And then they would open the car doors slowly. One of them would go first to the direction in the left, and the rest would follow behind. They would walk slowly and silently until they were a little far away, and then they would sprint until there was some safe shelter nearby. Everyone was to hold hands the entire time, and in case you got bitten, leave the group.

Time was so precious, the others silently nodded and didn’t even see each other for one last time. Sunggyu felt evil for being overly practical. Maybe the end of Infinite was here, maybe they were supposed to die together.

But they had struggled for years to achieve what they have, together and individually, and they would struggle for survival now. If Sunggyu could trust in anyone the most, it was his members.

Woohyun headed out first just as soon as Sungyeol switched off the lights without any warning. Sungyeol followed behind him. Sunggyu didn’t know who went when, but he held Sungjong’s backpack, as the maknae stepped out, and Myungsoo held his shoulder from behind as he followed him. Sunggyu hoped Dongwoo had gotten out too.

They walked in a line slowly. Once or twice, Sunggyu stepped on some leaves and cringed, hoping it didn’t make a loud sound. His heart was making more noise than their footsteps anyway. Every moment was filled with nervousness, his ears open to listen to enemy sounds.

Sunggyu had tried to hear what the dead corpses sounded like when they had been escaping, for future references. It was not a moan like depicted in the movies, more of like a slow grunt and hollow creepy noises which he couldn’t give a name to. They just sounded painful. He kept that in mind and tried to listen for similar sounds nearby.

It was only after they had walked for some time, probably around fifteen minutes, that they stopped walking. Sunggyu did a headcount and glanced at the members for any visible bruises. Woohyun pointed to a huge departmental store some distance from them. Apparently they were at the starting limits of a town, which meant it was dangerous now.

But they needed a place to talk for a while and make some plans, so Woohyun led them to the store.

The inside of the store looked empty from where they were outside, but it was dark inside so they couldn’t tell. Woohyun pushed open the door slightly and switched on the lights. Sungyeol made a low noise, hoping to bring out any corpses towards them which were hidden out of sight. But when even after a minute, there was no response, Dongwoo ventured inside. They checked all nooks and corners to be safe.

And to their surprise, there was a girl inside, an actual living girl. She seemed to be in her teenage years and when Sungyeol first found her, she attacked him, but Sungyeol managed to overpower her and when she realized they were not dead, she stopped with the assault.

The seven switched off the lights in the front and gathered to discuss in the back.

The girl said her name was Misung, and she was twenty one. When they introduced themselves as Infinite, she revealed her older brother was a fan of them. She told them her brother worked for the railways, and she lived with him in the town.

Unfortunately, the town was given the alert to vacate when she had been sleeping, and there had been nobody who had thought to inform her. Her brother had been a few towns away then. When she woke up, to her surprise, there was not a single soul in the entire town. It took her a while to realize what had happened when she walked to the outer limits and had to fight off a zombie. She was a zombie movie buff and had realized the situation pretty quickly. After that, she had locked herself up in her house to wait for the sunrise so she could leave. But her brother had come looking for her. He had driven the train to their town because he had not found her among the town population who had migrated, and had realized she was still there at the town. Now he was at the railway station to check for working trains and had asked her to stay hidden in the department store she used to work in until he came back. He would drive her to Daejeon, because that was where a wall was being built, and they were accepting inside only the non-bitten people over to the other side there and exterminating all zombies at sight.

She invited the six of them to board the train along with her, and they could all move to safety.

They thought about it for a while, and agreed. Getting away from danger was of extreme priority and the sooner they move to the other side, the better.

The wait for Misung’s brother, Jisung, took an hour and Sunggyu had almost lost hope that the man was alive, but he returned. He looked in a state of shock and Sunggyu could only imagine what kind of horrible stuff he had had to see, but he was thankfully not bitten.

When his gaze fell on them though, he looked even more shocked, but positively.

“Infinite?” Jisung said, as if not believing his eyes.

That was when the man, who looked Sungjong’s age, started crying, and they didn’t know what to do. They were in the back, and everything was shuttered down, so the sound wouldn’t go outside, but to handle a crying person was an urgent task. It was a fan and Sunggyu thought they should be able to comfort him somehow.

Misung was trying to comfort her brother, but that wasn’t working and Jisung excused himself for a while so he could gather himself. Woohyun went after him and Sunggyu found himself glancing in that direction.

When the two didn’t return after a while, Sunggyu’s curiosity won over him and he went to check on them.

It shouldn’t be a shock for him to see Woohyun hugging Jisung and whispering something to his ear. Woohyun was like that, he loved the fans a lot, and cared for them, and on one hand Sunggyu was glad because Jisung was his fan too after all and even if it wasn’t a fan, Woohyun was doing a good job comforting people in distress, and he was an angel for that. But, there was another side to it, and Sunggyu felt shitty for even thinking like that, but… he was… jealous.

And not even to a small extent, but a whole lot jealous. It was a dangerous emotion to harbour in times like this, but it had always been like that with Woohyun for Sunggyu, and he couldn’t stop the feelings.

Sunggyu was in love with Woohyun.

And that wasn’t a joke.

Wasn’t it shitty to love someone from your group and risk screwing up the entire group’s career? And that was exactly how shitty Sunggyu felt.

He had loved Woohyun for as long as he knew him, romantically, yes.

Sunggyu came out to himself in his teens. Only his family knew first. His father had threatened to disown him, and his mother had been initially unsupportive, but eventually started to talk to him on the condition that he wouldn’t reveal it to anyone other than the three of them- his parents and sister.

And Sunggyu had accepted that, until he had joined an all-boys group. He had been scared to reveal to them his sexuality. He had wanted to be the leader badly and had achieved that position but all that could have slipped out of his hand with one accidental reveal of his identity.

The good thing was that Sungjong was in the group. And Sungjong had come out to them right from the start. Even the agency knew and they were actually not against it because according to them _every group needed a member like that_. _For the ships and fanservice_ , they said.

But Sunggyu saw how Sungjong was treated, how the agency forced him to do stuff, to confirm to their tough demands and standards. When one day, two years after debut, Sunggyu found Sungjong crying, he couldn’t bear it anymore, and came out to Sungjong. That had been the best decision ever. Not only did Sungjong find a companion to talk about his struggles, but within a few months, Woohyun came out to the members, and Sunggyu followed course. There were three gay members in the group, Dongwoo was pansexual, he claimed, and the rest were so accepting of the four of them, Sunggyu couldn’t forget the day he told them he loved them more than anything.

Sunggyu had loved Woohyun before that, then, and after that, but couldn’t ever confess it. Just because your band members were accepting of your orientation didn’t mean you had to screw everything. Sunggyu found himself burdened by the pressure of the group as the leader, and distanced himself from Woohyun. They played up their couple fanservice since unfortunately their pairing was popular, but Sunggyu would try to avoid contact with Woohyun, because he didn’t want to lose control of himself. That had created a rift between them, and it was a year later, that Woohyun punched Sunggyu and told him to fuck off if he hated him, that Woohyun wasn’t going to pretend for the fans. That was when Sunggyu had stopped the ignoring, because it was affecting Woohyun as much it affected him, and losing a friendship over worrying about outing his feelings didn’t look worth the hassle and hurt. He had apologized and everything had settled.

Except things became torturous to Sunggyu sometimes. He was totally fine with their friendship, Woohyun even called him his brother sometimes. But there were times when Woohyun would do things like touch him or establish contact some other ways and Sunggyu would lose it. There were times he told Woohyun to back off if the skinship felt excessive, but Sunggyu would try to not make an issue of it because Woohyun probably did not intend to do that on purpose. Hell, even Dongwoo was more intimate to Sunggyu compared to Woohyun, but with Dongwoo, it didn’t affect him anyway, there was a difference.

But there were also times like this, when Woohyun would care deeply for someone who was not Sunggyu and he would feel so jealous and lonely that it frustrated him, because why was Sunggyu like that? If Woohyun came close to him, it was suffering for Sunggyu, and if Woohyun was close to someone else, that was also suffering for Sunggyu. He was pathetic, and that was the same conclusion he arrived at every time.

Just when he was about to turn away and go back, Woohyun caught him looking. Woohyun still had his arms around the fan, and his head over his shoulders, but slowly withdrew and whispered again to Jisung.

Jisung nodded his head and left the room, giving a shy smile to Sunggyu which Sunggyu returned. When Sunggyu himself was about to walk back to the back of the store again, Woohyun called him. “Hyung”

“Yes?” Sunggyu looked in his direction.

“I have to say something to you.” Woohyun said, beckoning him closer.

“You can say it to me there with the others.” Sunggyu pointed outside. “We should minimize the time we stay back here.”

“Please come here once.” Woohyun requested.

Sunggyu was confused, but he nevertheless walked to the other.

Woohyun looked anxious and Sunggyu was concerned, but when he reached there, the younger man pulled him into a hug.

That was… nice… but why was Woohyun doing this? “Are you alright Hyun-ah?” Sunggyu asked.

“H-hyung… I miss my parents, my cats, Boohyun hyung, my friends, I-”

“I am sure they are alright, and they want you to go back to them safe” Sunggyu stroked his back. “So try your best okay?”

“Gyu hyung”

“Hmm”

“Do you know the one thing I forgot to say before you left for the army?”

“I watched the vlive, that was unexpected.” Sunggyu tried to chuckle. “Our fans must have eaten it up.”

“Sunggyu, I love you” Woohyun mumbled into his shoulder.

“Huh?” Sunggyu pulled back to look at Woohyun.

Woohyun let him pull away and looked at him with a gaze that unsettled Sunggyu a bit. Why did he look so caringly at him?

“I love you too Woohyun.” Sunggyu said. He loved everyone in Infinite and there was no reason to hesitate in saying just that.

Woohyun smiled slightly at that. He placed his hand on Sunggyu’s right cheek and caressed it a bit and Sunggyu was completely puzzled. “Gyu” Woohyun came closer and tiptoed, placing his hands on Sunggyu’s shoulder, and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

When he pulled back, Woohyun’s eyes were wet from unshed tears, and Sunggyu felt himself tearing up looking at him. So he avoided doing that, but Woohyun didn’t give him a chance. The younger man held his cheeks in his hands and brought him to face him.

“Sunggyu” He said. “We will get out of this safely right? Please tell me all of us will be safe.”

“We will have to try our best and stay alert at all times.” Sunggyu replied. “That’s the only thing we can do. I can’t promise you anything, but if there is anyone I can trust in, it’s you and the other members. And if we try our best, like always, we will be able to greet our fans again together on the stage as Infinite. Let’s do this okay?”

Woohyun seemed to be satisfied with the answer, but he continued. “If due to any reason, I get bitten, promise me you’ll leave me behind, and get to safety.”

“That’s what we decided earlier, isn’t it?”

“I know, but it’s easier said than done. Can you imagine leaving behind Sungjong or any of the others? It isn’t so simple.”

Sunggyu felt his eyes watering at that, because no, he couldn’t leave Sungjong or Sungyeol or anyone else behind if they were bitten. Maybe his natural instincts would tell him to flee, but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to do that when the time came. Yet he answered, “I will try my best. And you have to promise me the same. Even if I panic and ask you to stay, please leave me. If I get bit and you don’t leave me behind, you will certainly get bit, and I might feel lonely during the time, but the feeling will be temporary, because I won’t be human after that. I will die, I-”

There was a hand on his mouth then. Woohyun had not removed his gaze from him even once and now Sunggyu felt conscious of his gaze. Besides, the younger had been behaving very differently in the past few minutes, so Sunggyu was kind of worried. But at the same time, he could understand it. Because there was the unsaid possibility that this was the last time they were able to talk to each other. Sunggyu wondered if he should confess his feelings to the other, maybe he wouldn’t have a chance again. But that would probably lead to a change in the dynamics of the group and he couldn’t risk that now when trust and cooperation was the most important. Woohyun could get upset and distracted and even a little lack of concentration might prove to be deadly.

So he bottled those emotions in like always and hugged Woohyun, because he needed that. There was a weight on his back then, and Sunggyu realized Sungyeol had wrapped his strong arms around him from behind. He smiled, as Dongwoo came to his sight in front of him and joined their group hug, embracing Woohyun from behind. Sungjong was there too, patting all of their heads, and Sunggyu desperately prayed in his mind that they would be able to get out of the situation alive.

They separated when Misung coughed to indicate it was getting late.

Sunggyu gathered a short meeting and they shared what precautions were to be taken. Before, they had thought of leaving in the morning, but it was also possible that by that time, the entire crowd of zombies from the base would have reached the store and the train station.

Jisung shared all the information he had gathered from the soldiers at Seoul. Apparently the North Koreans had tried to create a tool of mass destruction by the way of zombies. The researchers had been trying to create the perfect virus for spreading and had leaked it out at the South Korean base next to the border early in the evening. Eliminating all South Koreans was the plan. Fortunately, the base had communicated the problem to the headquarters and within hours, the South Korean military had cordoned off certain area they believed to be unsafe, and a wall was being built at Daejeon. All civilians in the danger zones were asked to come to the South for testing so that they could be let inside. The entire population was being moved to the south and surprisingly big cities like Seoul and Incheon were evacuated already. The coast was also being monitored and the soldiers ordered to shoot anyone, zombie or human, who tried to escape by that route. The only possible portal for safety was Daejeon and that was there they had to head to.

The decision was made and they were leaving right then and would aim to reach Daejeon as quick as possible.

Sunggyu changed into a worker’s clothes from the store because the army uniform could land him into trouble, since people could think he was a zombie, as the epidemic had started from his base. But it could also help him in the future, so he carried it in his backpack.

They left the store together, leaving the store unlocked, in case anyone came looking for shelter. Thankfully, the zombies they had met on their way there had not come to this direction and even though they had walked vulnerable in the dark night, quite sure that at least one of them would be dead, nothing happened.

Until they were right in front of the train they were supposed to board.

Jisung and Misung had already boarded the driver’s coach and locked it, and the Infinite members were supposed to get into the first coach behind them.

Dongwoo was the last one to enter, and Sunggyu saw something heading towards their direction. It was a zombie. Sungyeol yelled to alert them; Sunggyu was the closest. He pulled Dongwoo inside but the creature was close, very close. Sunggyu kicked it with his legs. It was a man, who was in an almost decayed state. His guts were hanging out of his body and an eyeball was out of the socket. The gory sight stilled Sunggyu but Myungsoo who was next to him, kicked the monster harder, and closed the door. They called the driver’s coach and asked them to start the train already.

Sunggyu was still pretty shocked, and Sungjong was there to comfort him. Sunggyu started crying because all he could think of was how his friends in the base must have also turned into similar monsters like the zombie man he had seen up close, and how close Dongwoo was to becoming one of them. He couldn’t stop crying. He was pretty sure Sungjong was exhausted after a while with how tightly Sunggyu was clutching his shirt, because the maknae left his side, and Dongwoo replaced him.

Sunggyu wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. The leader had been comforted by the other members the entire time. He was the worst leader. But Dongwoo made sure to distract him. He talked about all that Sunggyu missed in the past months, stuff the members had forgotten to tell him in the short times they had been able to talk to him.

That had been pretty successful because it felt like everything was normal. They were on a schedule, heading together on the train. Dongwoo was also touchy like always and Sunggyu felt tiny in his embrace as Dongwoo made sure to cover him completely, as if protecting him.

The others were sitting some seats away, discussing about what they could do from then on. Sunggyu glanced outside the window but nothing could be seen in the darkness of the night. Occasionally there were some noises of something hitting the train and it was obvious they were zombies. The noises disturbed him, and Sunggyu shifted a few times in his position.

Dongwoo kissed his cheek and Sunggyu laughed because he would have scolded the man for doing that any other time, but now he desperately needed comfort, and he wanted more of Dongwoo’s warmth.

 He snuggled into him really tight, and Dongwoo kissed him on his other cheek, to the delight of Sunggyu.

Sunggyu kissed him back on his cheek and Dongwoo laughed and said. “You did this to me during This is Infinite, remember? I should have guessed it was you then, who were given that dare, but I thought hyung just loved me a lot.”

Sunggyu couldn’t help but laugh at that, and he kissed Dongwoo a few times again to prove that he actually loved him.

Dongwoo smiled, shining like the beautiful star he was and Sunggyu cried because it occurred to him that he would die rather than see a zombie Dongwoo.

The younger man wiped his tears and shushed him.

There was a shadow over them then, and Sunggyu looked up to see Woohyun standing next to their row of seats.

“Woohyun ah, is something the matter?” Dongwoo asked.

Woohyun looked exhausted and pretty grim, and even Sunggyu was concerned. When Dongwoo asked the question, Woohyun sighed and glanced at Sunggyu.

Woohyun then looked back at Dongwoo. “Hyung, I slept till afternoon today, you know that right? So I am staying awake now. Jisung says we might reach Daejeon in three hours, and I think all of you should take a nap of two hours at least till then. I will be there awake in case something requires attention. So you go to sleep.”

“Oh okay. I will first get Gyu hyung to sleep and then sleep myself. But don’t hesitate to wake me up at the slightest sign of trouble okay?”

“I will, but… I will stay with Sunggyu hyung for a while now. I will look after him. You should go sleep.” Woohyun replied.

Sunggyu wanted to protest. He needed Dongwoo beside him, he needed the closeness. So he whined when Dongwoo separated from him and stood up.

Dongwoo seemed to have realized that and gestured to Woohyun with his eyes that maybe he should stay there.

But Woohyun said, “Don’t worry. I will take care of him. Believe me, you go rest.”

Dongwoo looked unsure, but relented, and left his seat to head back where the other members were seated.

Woohyun settled down next to Sunggyu, and he didn’t give Sunggyu even a minute to decide how to react, before making Sunggyu rest his head on his shoulder sideways, and petting his head, telling him to go to sleep already.

This was nice too, and Sunggyu was all ready to sleep, but he realized that the shoulder he was leaning on was the injured one, the one permanently damaged years ago. When he conveyed that to Woohyun, the younger man told him not to mind it, and that the shoulder was not in that bad of a state, even Sunggyu knew. Also Woohyun couldn’t make Sunggyu sit on the other side because that would mean Sunggyu would be on the outer side, and Woohyun couldn’t let him sleep exposed to any danger.

That was fucking sweet, but dumb sweet, because more damage to the shoulder would only harm Woohyun.

So of course Sunggyu protested.

A minute later, Woohyun was sitting on the outermost seat and Sunggyu was lying down over the seats, his head on Woohyun’s lap. This was a better position and Sunggyu liked how Woohyun massaged his scalp with his hands. It was soothing and sleep came to him quickly. They have slept like this before, many a times before, when they were roommates in their initial years, and Sunggyu went to sleep smiling.

When he woke up, a long time had passed, because the sun was rising, and Sunggyu could see the scene outside the window. The train was moving at almost a snail pace. Woohyun was asleep, and that raised flags in Sunggyu’s mind but when he looked around, he noticed Sungyeol was awake.

Sungyeol, upon noticing him, gestured him to sleep, that he was keeping guard. But Sunggyu was too curious to know what was going on so he walked to where Sungyeol was. The tall man was sitting in the front row, giving room for his long legs to breathe. The other three were all snuggled together in the last row and Sunggyu let out a fatherly smile at how cute they looked. Then a zombie leaned itself across the window right next to their seat, being thrown off back just then from the train being in motion. There was another one that jumped onto them from Sungyeol’s side, and the ghastly sight of it up close made Sunggyu sick.

Sungyeol must have been shaken by it too because he looked serious compared to his tired state before. Sunggyu sat down next to him, shutting the curtains halfway, and started giving him a massage on his shoulders. He felt guilty for being down since the night before, and to compensate for that he decided to take care of the members for now. Sungyeol did not react and simply looked out the window.

“What if someone comes running for help, we should be looking for people out there, shouldn’t we?” Sungyeol said.

“We can’t stop Yeol. And I don’t think anyone will be able to reach to the train in time even if they saw it from afar. There are a lot of confused zombies around the train, and one sign of us being inside will drive them nuts. But yes, if anyone is close enough we can take the risk of stopping, though that can be dangerous too. Can we trust people?”

Sungyeol frowned.

“Why have we still not reached Daejeon? Weren’t we supposed to reach hours ago?” Sunggyu asked.

“Jisung goon slept for a while and he instructed Misung how to drive the train.”

“Oh? Is she motoring it now?”

“Yes, which is why she’s taking it slow”

“But still we were supposed to reach in three hours”

“Actually… I don’t know the specifics, but the train halted an hour after it started. The siblings were afraid to go check what was blocking the path, so when the train didn’t move even after several hours, Woohyun stepped out-”

“Wait, are you saying Woohyun left the coach in the dark night?” Sunggyu was baffled.

“Yes and he didn’t even inform any one of us.” Sungyeol looked angry. “It was a group of zombies outside, hyung, and he took on them on his own. I already hit him a few times for doing that, when Jisung told me about it as soon as I woke up. We could have lost Woohyun.”

Sunggyu was pissed off too. He stood up and walked back to his seat.

There Woohyun was, just awake, but in a bad mood.

“Why did you go without waking me?” Woohyun said.

Sunggyu wanted to punch him hard, but the other three were sleeping and he didn’t want to wake them up from commotion. So he ignored Woohyun completely. He took out two bananas from his backpack and walked back to Sungyeol. There was nothing he had eaten since yesterday evening, and eating was not something they could manage to do in the circumstances before. Sungyeol had tried to eat something in the store last night, but he had completely emptied his stomach after that by throwing up.

Now, Sunggyu leaned over by Sungyeol’s seat and told him that he could sleep and that Sunggyu would take over the guard duty.

Sungyeol insisted he was fine and that sleep wouldn’t come to him anyway.

Just then Woohyun creeped up behind Sunggyu, and Sungyeol was glaring at him. Sunggyu turned to look behind. Woohyun was glaring back at Sungyeol. “You told him?” Woohyun asked Sungyeol. “I told you to keep quiet.”

“Did I agree to that? No.” Sungyeol replied. “Hyung, kick him out now.” He said to Sunggyu. “He will risk all of our lives.”

Woohyun looked sullen at that, like a kicked puppy, but Sunggyu was still angry. “You are right actually” Sunggyu said. “Maybe he hates us so much that even though he was supposed to guard us, he left us sleeping here and ventured out.”

“I locked the door completely before leaving! And even told Jisung to drive off or inform you in case something was off.” Woohyun exclaimed.

“You fucker! You don’t realize what’s the real issue here, do you?” Sungyeol growled.

“Why did you think it was alright to go alone outside in the dark? I don’t know how you survived fighting those creatures in the complete darkness on your own, but luck doesn’t help you always.” Sunggyu said. He was more frustrated by the second. He grabbed Woohyun by his collar. “If anything had gone wrong, we would have been sobbing over you now. You wouldn’t have been here alive, don’t you know that? We have to rely on each other. I told you this before.” Sunggyu seethed with anger.

“But on the flip side, I would have managed to clean out the block by the time I would turn into a zombie, so the train could have moved forward.” Woohyun reasoned.

“Shut up!” Sunggyu shouted. He was really pissed off, and slapped Woohyun on his cheek with the back of his hand.

The younger man was hurt, and held his cheek, glaring at Sunggyu, his eyes watering. “You… hit me? Now? You h-hate me.” Woohyun said, with difficulty. He looked at Sungyeol. “You hate me too. I am not talking to you ever again.”

Sunggyu could see that Woohyun was itching to hit him back, but was resisting the natural urge. Woohyun walked to one of the middle seats, to the other side of the row they had been seated in before, and looked outside the window, pulling aside the curtain a bit.

Sunggyu regretted hitting Woohyun now, but Woohyun had done wrong and what he had said had ticked Sunggyu off. Woohyun had been planning to sacrifice himself so the train could move forward, and that was not a good thing. Here, Sunggyu had been hoping that they would all reach the wall safe and together, and that Woohyun did things on his own individually detracted from that. More than anything, that Woohyun was willing to give up his life just like that was a dampener.

Sunggyu wouldn’t willingly ever do anything which could get him bitten. He couldn’t understand Woohyun and that was one of the most frustrating things ever.

Now, they couldn’t do anything, until they reached their destination.

Sunggyu was not going to convince Woohyun or apologize to him, but he would have to think of something to sort the matter out. The best would be if Woohyun realized his mistake and came to him.

For the moment, Sunggyu took his seat next to Sungyeol and they both looked out at the passing scenery. They passed a heavily zombie infested area once, but thankfully the creatures were not on the tracks, so the train picked up pace and managed to pass through without any issues. There was only one coach behind them anyway, since they had unlinked the other coaches before leaving, hacking the connectors off for safer travel.

Sunggyu called the driver’s coach twice. Apparently Jisung had taken the control back and had informed him it would take an hour more to reach. They had to stop certain times to clear out blockages from the track.

So far, they hadn’t met any civilians in need of help, but right when Sunggyu ended the call, he noticed something in the far distance.

 

 

 


End file.
